So Sets the Fire
by Zapenstap
Summary: It was special, their love for each other it was markedly different than whatever was between Yuki and Tohru now, and he was committed to it with all his heart. kyoru lemon. edited


This is an edited lemon.  If you want to read the complete story, you can find it at www.blissfulignorance.com under the Fruits Basket Fanfiction Forum.  I hope this edited version is not too much for an R rating.  Please let me know personally if you think it is and give me a chance to edit it further before you report it.  Thank you and please enjoy!

So Sets the Fire

By Zapenstap

            The air was warm and surprisingly dry for an early summer evening.  The sun was only just beginning to set, the first whispers of darkness clinging to the edges of things as shadows lengthened across the sidewalk and crept into the street.

            Kyo trudged down the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in the pouch-pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, looking blankly at the boughs of trees that stretched overhead along his path.  Sunlight hit him at an angle, lighting up only one side of his face, the other side of him dissolving in shadow.  As he walked, the sun touched the edge of the horizon and fire swept across the sky, ruddy hues of red and orange turning a green world golden.  The leaves above his head seemed to catch fire, burning without burning up, a fierce display of light and color that was seemingly violent while remaining absurdly peaceful.  

            It was beautiful.  It reminded Kyo of the mountains where he had trained years ago, recalling images of those rolling hills and quiet forests that he still visited when he could, that far away place where the raw power of the Earth had soothed his aches and tested his endurance, its complex beauty sweetly pleasant, both its predictability and unpredictability strangely comforting. 

            Kyo stopped for a moment, turning an expressionless face toward the street, watching as children were called indoors from their sport and imaginative play in the yards and streets of this peaceful little neighborhood where he had made his home.  It was not a place where he had ever imagined living, not being much of a community person himself, though he supposed the people who lived here were nice enough.  They didn't bother him and he didn't bother them and that was the way he liked it.  But he knew that would change one day, the way Tohru carried on sometimes about getting to know the neighbors.  She almost always got her way with him, no matter how much she protested that she was perfectly content to let others make decisions for her.  He supposed it worked out okay.

            He smiled, thinking about Tohru and watching the sun set, wondering what she would be making him for dinner tonight.  Not that he required her to cook for him or anything, but she just seemed to enjoy it and he knew it would seriously freak her out if he told her she didn't have to.  She would think she had done something wrong.  She was such an idiot sometimes.

            Their house together was a modest little place that they worked hard to get and harder to keep, but it was cozy and comfortable and Tohru always talked about how lucky and happy and grateful she was that they could live somewhere so perfect.  Of course, she would say the same if they lived in a rickety shack with a leaky roof, or god forbid, in a tent on someone else's property, but that was just Tohru.  He knew when she was _really_ happy.  He spent all his free time worrying about how to make her so.  He thought she was.

            Knocking once on the door to announce his arrival, Kyo pushed it open and stepped inside.  The kitchen was immediately on his right, a pot on the stove radiating a mouth-watering aroma.  What passed for a living room was on his left, a couch and an arm chair, a coffee table and a television the only real furniture they had at the moment, some of it used.  He made enough at the Dojo to make Tohru comfortable; that was what was most important to him.

            "Hey, Tohru," he said a little loudly, maybe even a little obnoxiously.  "I'm ho…."

            He cut off abruptly.

            She was sitting on the couch, her hair pulled into two braids and her knees pressed together as she faced the coffee table and the arm chair on the other side of it, her back to the door.  She turned when Kyo announced himself, her expression converting into one of those guilty, goofy smiles she wore when she suddenly realized she had made a dumb mistake.  He hardly noticed, noting instead that the remains of dinner was laid out on the coffee table, empty bowls and dishes evidence of a meal finished very recently, and not alone.

            Yuki looked at Kyo from the arm chair across from Tohru, his expression blank, his hands folded together as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.  His clothes were of that trendy Chinese style Kyo wouldn't be caught dead in, new and expensive, though he always wore them loosely, sloppy around the edges.  He regarded Kyo coolly, smooth as ice, his large, intelligent eyes sparkling under those long, girly lashes and silky fine hair.  

            Goddamn Yuki.  What the hell was he doing here?

            "Hey," Kyo said with a smothered glower, chewing on the word as he let the door slam behind him.

            Tohru's expression became even more goofy, her eyes practically starting out of her head, mouth falling agape as she stiffened like a plank board.  She was so frozen, he was afraid she might have turned into an ice sculpture, something that would shatter if it toppled.  Even her hair seemed to stick out, crackling with the sudden electrical tension.  "Um, Kyo!" she said.  "You're home early.  I…"  Her eyes softened into liquid pools, her posture relaxing, looking altogether small and sweet and lovely, "I invited Yuki over for dinner…"

            "I see that," he said blandly, and she flinched.  He glared at Yuki.  "I don't suppose you didn't have somewhere _else_ to go for dinner."

            Yuki's eyes narrowed in that dangerous way and Kyo's muscles flexed unconsciously, years of experience training him to react to Yuki's disapproval as if it were a bodily threat.  "I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see Miss Honda," he said in cool, calculating tones.  "It hardly concerns you so don't take this out on her."

            Reflex made Kyo assume a fighting stance, fists clenching and feet spread as if defending himself from blows.  "I'm not taking it out on her!" he half shouted, angry partially because he realized that maybe he _had_ sort of indicated guilt on Tohru's part.  

            Tohru was staring with that wide-eyed expression again, turning her head swiftly between the pair of them, braids swinging as she looked first at Yuki, calm and relaxed in the chair, and then at Kyo with his back up by the door.

            Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Kyo slowly counted to ten, wondering why Yuki _still_ got on his nerves so much.  Slowly, his blood began to simmer down, his overheated head cooling as he looked at Tohru. "Hey," he said, glancing at Yuki out of the corner of his eye, relaxing forcibly, lowering his arms and opening his hands, the blood rushing into his palms.  "I'm just wasn't expecting you and stuff."  He looked at Tohru.  "I'm not mad.  Really. Tohru."  Grudgingly, he added, "Yuki," but it came out a little as if spat from the darkest, forgotten depths of his soul.  He put his fists on his hips.  "I just wish someone had told me," he added.  He had meant it casually.

            Tohru leaped to her feet, hands flying to hide the lower half of her face in so apologetic a posture that Kyo wished he had swallowed his indignation and kept his big mouth shut.  "I'm so sorry!" she wailed.  "Yuki called from the car.  He said he had a business meeting and wanted to come by on his way home.  I couldn't get a hold of you to ask, so um… I just said he could come for dinner.  I didn't mean to upset you!"

            Kyo scratched the back of his head, trying to think up some rescuing comment that would alleviate the stress he had just put on Tohru. He supposed he should answer the phone more.   He really wasn't really angry anyway, but the way Yuki was looking at him so accusingly made it hard to think of something good to say.  Damn it, if he was Yuki he could have made a dozen flowery apologies by now that would have Tohru blushing and stammering her forgiveness.

            "It's not a big deal," he said lamely.  "I just… I dunno.  Whatever you want.  I'm fine with it."  Kyo squeezed his eyes shut, mentally hitting himself.  Damn it!  That was not what he meant to say!  After all, it was Kyo who had told Tohru in the first place that it was all right with him if she wanted to keep being friends with Yuki.  It was just, everything was so new and this was the first time that damn rat had been invited over to their home.  Maybe if he'd known he was coming he wouldn't have reacted like that.  It was mostly habit anyway, feeling agitated whenever Yuki was around, feeling self-conscious and lowly, like he wasn't good enough.  Rare were the moments when Kyo felt distinctly like he triumphed over Yuki, and though he felt elated during those sweet seconds of confidence-boosting bliss, they were always short-lived, squandered in an instant

            Yuki stared at him just long enough to let him know how idiotic he thought his speech had been, and then turned politely to Tohru, his pretty smile effortlessly disarming.   Tohru blinked for a moment, expression vacant from Kyo's words, as if still dissecting their meaning, but she blinked and smiled when Yuki spoke softly to her.  "It's all right, Miss Honda.  I'm sure Kyo's rudeness is unintentional.  As hotheaded as his temper is, some moments of stupidity are unavoidable."

            Kyo's eyes started out his head.  Tohru's expression was blank, like her thoughts were a balloon that had just been popped with a pin.  Kyo stamped a foot loudly on the floor, seething worse than before.  "Oh, you think you are _so_ fancy with all that genteel speech crap!"

            Yuki's eyes narrowed again as he turned his head.  "Like you would know the first thing about it."

            "Who says I want to?" Kyo demanded.  "I wouldn't want to be stuck in those business meetings you go to all day, all those poker-faced smarmy people being over polite to each other while scheming behind your back.  No thanks!  I don't care that you make more money."

            "Actually, my business negotiations are going well," Yuki retorted, brushing hair out of his face. "And what I said is just the honest truth, isn't it?"  Ignoring Kyo as if he didn't exist, Yuki lifted his tea cup from the table and took a sip.  "This is marvelous tea, Miss Honda."

            Ignoring their fights the way she used to, Tohru grinned foolishly.  "Oh, thank you.  I'm sure it's not that great, but I'm glad you like it."

            Yuki smiled at her over the rim of his cup.  She smiled back.

            "Oh, to hell with it!" Kyo said, and refused to acknowledge the jealousy he felt boiling in his gut.  "I'm starving.  I hope there's something left for me."

            Tohru scrambled to her feet, her expression clearly worried, eyes wide as saucers.  "Oh, um, I'll get you something," she said hurriedly.

            He whirled, shouting at her.  "Sit back down!"  She froze, stock still and straight as a pike.  Berating himself, he said more softly.  "I can get it myself.  Geez.  As long as Yuki's here already, you two might as well talk."

            She wilted under his stare, standing in a short skirt and a button-up blouse with an apron tied around her waist.  Behind her, Yuki hung his head and held his hand over his eyes in an embarrassed gesture that Kyo was sure he was meant to see.

            Kyo swallowed, rolling his eyes skyward.  "Um.  I mean, you don't have to serve me. Just… Yuki's here, right?  It's not a problem.  So you two should talk and catch up and stuff and I'll just…"  He looked down at Tohru's pleading face.  "I'll join you in a minute."

            Tohru blinked grateful eyes at him, but she was clearly disconcerted, wringing her hands nervously, head twisting to look back at Yuki and then at Kyo's lock-jawed face. 

            "No," Yuki said with a sigh.  "I have to be going anyway."

            "Yuki," Tohru whispered.

            "It's nothing to do with you, Miss Honda.  Or Kyo.  I just have a stack of proposals to go through."  He smiled, unwinding from the couch gracefully, his slim form like a lithe blade of subtle power.  Rolling his sleeves down, he brushed a lock of hair from his eyes again, his expression generally kind, every little expression and gesture explaining that he was not leaving because he was offended or annoyed.  Kyo crossed his arms, glaring balefully out of sheer stubbornness.

            "Um, okay," Tohru said, accompanying him to the door in her bare feet, soft and silent as a bird.  Yuki knelt to put on his shoes and then rose.  He spoke a few words to Tohru that Kyo could not hear, though he strained as much as he could while trying to _look_ as if he didn't care at all.  He leaned slightly, tilting his head and looking the other direction, and caught a snatch of their conversation.

            "Are you sure you love him?"  Yuki said, and Kyo glanced over just enough to see Yuki's eyes rise from Tohru's face to glare at him askance.  Kyo flushed and closed his eyes, but he heard Tohru's quiet, but sure response.

            "Uh-huh." 

            He opened his eyes just in time to see Yuki lean forward, gently holding Tohru by the shoulders as he kissed her forehead affectionately.  She closed her eyes, smiling comfortably, and he smiled back as he opened the door, wishing her a pleasant evening and as he walked out of their home.  The glance he threw toward Kyo at the last moment held a warning, as if to say "if you screw this up, I'll come for you."  Tohru looked out after him as he left, watching him walk down the path to wherever he had parked his car, and then shut the door softly.

            Kyo stared at her back as she stared at the doorknob; both of them quiet, reflecting.  Kyo felt like an ass and wondered what she was thinking, wishing he could take back the last few minutes and be the same kind of mellow gentleman that Yuki was, even in company he did not like.  He didn't even hate Yuki these days.  But all he did was grind his teeth, dropping his eyes when Tohru turned to look at him.

            She looked as if she wanted to say something, and he floundered to speak first, to apologize for his behavior and tell her what an idiot he was, that he was just stupidly jealous, that his love for her meant more to him than his old, pent-up hate for Yuki ever had.  

            "Tohru," he whispered, and she smiled.

            "It's okay," she said in such tones that his heartbeat sped up anxiously.  Her eyes dropped from his face to wander over to the living room.  "I should start cleaning up." 

            He watched as she picked up the dishes, kneeling gracefully beside the coffee table, gathering plates and cups with her pale, slender hands and then rising again from the ground, straight-backed and with a renewed smile on her face.  Dinner forgotten, he struggled to speak, not wanting to get mushy on her, or apologize profusely, but to fix things to the way they had been, when all he could think about was getting home to be with her.

            "You know," she said tentatively as she carried the dishes past him and brought them to the sink.  She had to stand on her toes to turn on the water, testing it with the back of her hand as she waited for it to get hot.  "I think Yuki came here to see you as much as me."

            He was so surprised, he laughed out loud, scoffing at the suggestion in such a way that made everything seem back to normal.  The tension in the air evaporated as Tohru's eyes popped under his reaction.  

            "You've got to be _kidding_ me," he said.  "You blind or somethin'?"

            "Well, um, I don't know," she said.

            Snatching a towel from the drawer under the counter, he threw it over her head and pulled the ends together behind her head.  Yelping, her hands flailed as she careened backward.  "Kyo!"

            He caught her with his free hand, holding her about the waist as she steadied herself in his grip.  He'd do anything to get close to her, and even though he was supposed to be older and passed this boyish flirting crap, he often found himself still doing the immature, goofy stuff like this.  Unembarrassed, he tugged on one of her braids until she yelped.

            "You trying to say that damn rat and I are friends or somethin'?"

            "Okay!" she laughed.  "Mercy!"  Her giggles made his heart thump loudly; like it was expanding so large it was going to lift him off the ground like a balloon.

            He removed the towel, smiling as she rubbed her eyes, her face split in a grin that affected him in a way he couldn't describe.  It was like all the heat in his heart was flowing out of his chest and into his toes and fingertips in a sudden rush. After moment, she began to wash the dishes again, her expression at its softest and sweetest, a picture of optimistic innocence and faith in goodness that made him think that her cry for mercy before wasn't really a surrender.

            "So why did you say that?" he asked her quietly, curious now, "about Yuki, I mean?"  He used the towel he had grabbed to help her, drying the dishes and putting them away as she washed.

            "Because," she said, "like you said, he spends all day at those business meetings, polite, hiding his thoughts.  And then he comes here and," she smiled as she handed him a plate, "provokes you to blow off steam."

            Kyo grunted noncommittally.  It wasn't like seeing Yuki was _that_ bad, he supposed.  He hadn't seen him in awhile and now that he thought about it, there actually _was_ something comforting in their interaction tonight.  Maybe there was something to what Tohru was saying in a way; at least she wasn't implying that they _liked each other.  And after all, he hadn't been that angry with Yuki personally tonight.  It was just…_

            He glanced at Tohru, at the way her shoulders moved as she washed dishes, her face content and her thoughts far away, frolicking in some flowered meadow in the perfect world that existed in her head, the one she imposed on everyone else.  Even though she was his, he was still jealous of Yuki.  Maybe it was just in the nature of their competition, and because he knew that Tohru and Yuki would always be friends, that the three of them would have to endure each other always.  But it was what Tohru wanted and that's what mattered to him.  It really wasn't so bad, in a way, but still, he couldn't help feeling jealous having to share her even a little.

            Setting the towel down, Kyo touched Tohru's wrist to stop her washing the dishes and with his other hand turned her chin toward him so he could kiss her.  She was surprised at first, blinking as he leaned in, but her lips were soft and welcoming, her eyes closing and her movements becoming still as he kissed her and pulled her into his space with his hand on her waist.  He forgot all about Yuki in that kiss.  He forgot about everything.  Tohru made time stand still.

            He smiled when he lifted his head away, looking into her eyes.  She always looked startled after moments like this; like a fawn caught in the woods, fists clenched into little balls and lashes flickering as she blinked.  Caressing her cheek with the knuckles on his right hand, he reached down and took the sponge from her. 

            "Hey, you, I'll finish this," he said.  

            She stepped back as he moved in, standing just beside him in her bare feet and watching as he did the dishes.  He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but his thoughts were on her as he washed.  Even his own thoughts were like clouds, floating and hazy, pure white with a pristine love he couldn't explain any more today than he could when he first started feeling it.  Back then, back when they were cursed and she was like a candle in the darkness, he had to share her with Yuki and worried every moment of every day that Fate would take her from him if Yuki did not.  And then, for some strange, miraculous reason, Yuki chose not to pursue her.  And then again, later, he learned that she loved him too.   Somehow, everything fell into place.  Thinking about it, he realized how lucky he was, how fortunate, to have someone like Tohru, to be loved the way Tohru loved him.  It was special, their love for each other; it was markedly different than whatever was between Yuki and Tohru now (he didn't even know what to call _that weirdness), and he was committed to it with all his heart._

            He felt Tohru's hands touch his shoulders and stopped washing the dishes, lifting his head as he set down the sponge and turned off the water.  A moment later he felt her press her face into his back.  Her hands slip down to his waist and crept around to his stomach, hugging him from behind.

            "Tohru?" he asked, and turned, disengaging from her grip so he could look at her.  Wisps of hair clung to her face from where they had escaped from the braids woven behind her ears and she kept her eyes on the ground.  He didn't know what she had been thinking before and with her eyes on her toes he couldn't tell now.  His eyes latched on the top of her head, mesmerized by the part in her hair that led in a trail down to her neck when she touched his arm, first with one hand and then the other, as if she wanted to lead him somewhere without having to speak.

            "Tohru?" he repeated, and lifted her head so he could look into her eyes, wondering what it was she wanted.

            She kissed him, rising up on trembling toes, her cheeks pink with a self-conscious blush even before her lips met his.  When they did, his knees almost buckled, feeling a familiar desperation from her kiss that made his stomach flop over and the blood in his body rush to his loins.  His breath caught in his throat, and he gasped as he remembered the few times that they had done this, the thought always in the back of his mind.  She had never initiated sex before and he had sometimes felt lecherous petitioning and seducing her, no matter how gentle his touches or how often he said he loved her or how much she said she liked it, but God he _did love her, and he could not help himself.  His arms went automatically around her back as he returned the kiss, more forceful in reciprocation, and released her lips only to lower his head to kiss her neck._

            Tohru's hands clung like feathers to his shoulders, but she tilted her head as he suckled her skin and he heard her breathing intensify.  Kyo's heart pounded in his chest like he was running a mile, his hands smoothing down the sides of Tohru's body until he had her by the waist, and then lower at the hips.  Her hands on his shoulders clenched, her nails digging into his skin through his shirt, and he heard her tell him in a faint voice that she was going to fall over.  And then she said she wanted him.

            Head buzzing like a dry grass field set aflame, he scooped her up in one swift motion.  She yelped, clinging to his neck as he carried her across the ten steps between the kitchen and the living room to lay her on the couch.  He whispered her name as he lowered himself on top of her, his fingers working frantically at the buttons of her blouse.  Her eyes, closed momentarily in an expression of expectant bliss, opened as she reached up to touch his chest, running the palms of her hands from his neck to his torso as if urging him faster.  He swallowed, noticing how flushed her face was and the liquid, heavy look of lust in her eye.  The first few times she had been scared, and even though he had been terrified himself, in some ways he had still felt bad.  It had gotten better as he got better at it, but this was the first time that he had seen that unmistakable look in her eye and felt no regrets; he could hardly keep himself from hurtling forward too fast.

            Her touches were addictive, and as her shirt came loose, she sat up, forcing him to sit up too as she shrugged out of her blouse.  Kneeling between her knees, he stared at her smooth white skin, a sight that had made him blush to think of it before their first time.  Eyeing her bra, he reached a hand behind her back to unhook it.  Tohru took no notice, her hands pulling at the hem of his sweatshirt until he stopped focusing enough on her to pull it and the white t-shirt underneath over his head and discard them somewhere behind him.  Breathing hard, Kyo leaned over Tohru's upper body, his hands reaching just under her arms to lay her back softly against the armrest.  

            Touching her braids with his fingers, he trapped her head between her elbows as he kissed her, waiting for her to open her mouth to accept his tongue before he forced it inside.  Something about kissing her like this caused his body to heat up like a furnace.  He felt her body growing warm in response, her hips shifting under him with an inexplicable need that she couldn't voice.  Gently but forcefully, he began to caress his hands over her body, losing himself in the sensuality of her return touches as their breathing mingled with soft cries and gasps for air.

            When it came to it, he felt her hand drift around to the back of his neck as he positioned himself between her legs. At the last second he opened his eyes, slowly against a heavy wave of pleasure, and saw Tohru open hers.  Their gazed met, caught each other, and held still.  Staring at her, be began the rhythmic process that usually overwhelmed his sense of touch so that he became deaf to sight and sound.  But this time, holding her gently by the waist, he kept his eyes open, held enthralled by the love and lust in her gaze as the sensations rolled through him.  She moved with him, breathing audibly, her eyes latched onto his until he could see the pleasure in them mounting, drowning out the color.

            "I love you," he choked, and wasn't sure why he said it, but she swallowed, blinking back tears.  He knew when she was close because her muscles began to tighten and her eyes closed again, squeezing shut to block in an intense, explosive pleasure.  She was having a similar effect on him and he hunched over her body, speeding up instinctually, scarcely able to remember to breathe.  But he forced himself to keep his eyes open.

            Her body was like a coiled spring, muscles clenched tight and hard, front teeth biting together and cushioned by her upper and lower lips, creating a seal through which no sound could escape.  Experimentally, he touched her face, lifting a hand to her cheek.  For a moment his lips met hers, opening her mouth to kiss her softly and lovingly.  Their tongues met, playing hide and seek at first and then mauling each other with a loving, desperate ferociousness that grew with the heat pooling between their bodies.  He struggled to hold himself back before the soft, wordless cry in his ears and the sweet, shudder of her body under his made the restraint unnecessary.  Bowing until his cheek rested against hers, he let himself go, the burst from his body echoing the explosion of light before his eyes.

            Sweaty, content and tired, he collapsed over her body, careful to distribute his weight to keep from crushing her.  He felt her hands in his hair immediately, her fingers stroking lazily through the orange strands as she smiled into his shoulder, somehow still innocent, still pristine, only happy and sexual and satisfied.

            "Hey, Tohru," he whispered. "I…" He kissed her neck to gather strength, her braid lying across his face.  "I'm sorry."

            "Huh?" she said, and when he didn't reply he felt her laugh, a silent little ripple of her stomach the only indication that she had.  But he knew that she was smiling even as she buried her face in his skin, the stroke of her hands on his back warm and soothing.  "Kyo," she responded, and he shifted to look her in the face, pushing wisps of hair away from her eyes.  "I was waiting for you to come home today.  I…" and then she blushed of all things.  Silly, endearing Tohru.  He lifted his head and caressed her face softly.  She didn't have to finish.

            He smiled at her, an affectionate smirk that said everything and nothing really.  Her eyes were large, but soft somehow, sweet and caring and lovely, the kind of beautiful he would always admire and never really understand.  Leaning forward, he cuddled her close with one hand under her back and kissed her forehead, angry at nothing as he took her left hand in his free one, playing with the modest diamond ring on her fourth finger as she looked into his face.  It didn't feel like he had won this girl, or even earned her.  It just felt like she was his, like she was a part of him; her sweetness was the soft, soothing comfort that cooled the fire in his heart, that had made him work to be the man he had always wanted to be; someone who could cherish and protect her.  He had her to thank for so much, this tender treasure, this little flower, so dear to his heart.  


End file.
